GROUP SLAMS REPORT QUESTIONING FDA ABILITY TO REGULATE NANOTECH
A nanotechnology industry group is taking issue with a report commissioned by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies that asserts that the agency lacks both the legal and financial resources to regulate products containing nanomaterials, saying the agency in fact has "robust legal authority" to carry out the job.
The report's author, Michael Taylor, former FDA deputy commissioner for policy, claims there are "gaps in FDA's legal tool kit," but the NanoBusiness Alliance said that the FDA is "fully capable to carry out its mission to protect public health with regard to products produced using nanotechnologies."
"The FDA does not need new powers to deliver, but rather, they require the budget and resources," to regulate these products, a spokesman for the NanoBusiness Alliance said. "This issue is less about authority, and much more about financial and human resources."
Sean Murdock, executive director of the group, said that the group believes the FDA "should be given all of the resources it needs, within the existing framework, to continue to ensure public safety and promote health through innovation."
The controversy is heating up just before the FDA is scheduled to hold a public workshop Oct. 10 on how to regulate and encourage innovation in nanotechnology. The agenda can be found at: www.fda.gov/nanotechnology/agenda1010.html (http://www.fda.gov/nanotechnology/agenda1010.html). A list of the members of the task force that will chair the meeting can be found at: www.fda.gov/nanotechnology/taskforce.html (http://www.fda.gov/nanotechnology/taskforce.html).